Teenagers bracing up to celebrate their liberty behind the wheel often find themselves in a dilemma. With their age, inexperience, and unrestrained driving habits, the choice of car turns out to be a tough call. As a parent, you might be wondering whether a Mini Cooper would be the ideal pick, considering its safety ratings and reasonable maintenance costs. The routine maintenance and insurance costs happen to be the most dreaded expenses for parents. While you would want your teen to experience the adventure and ecstasy of driving, it’s prudent to keep an eye on safety and your wallet. Do you think that a Mini Cooper would be an ideal car for your teen? We have explained the perks and drawbacks of this car to you!
Is a Mini Cooper a good car for a teenager?
A Mini Cooper happens to be one of the best picks for young drivers. Ideally, you should choose this vehicle over other compact cars for your teenage boy or girl.
Mini Coopers are branded vehicles that BMW launched back in 2020. The brand has particularly integrated specific features in terms of safety and visual appeal for the younger people. Some of the newer models come with automatic transmission features. Mini Coopers involve reasonably low insurance costs. Teens under 18 usually need to shell out $1,200-1,500 annually for insurance. With outstanding reliability ratings, customizable body, and roomy interiors, they are ideal for younger generations.
Moreover, Mini Coopers boast high resale value. Although the fuel charges are higher than other subcompact cars, the impressive mileage compensates for this expense.
Is a Mini Cooper a good first car?
Yes, Mini Coopers definitely make outstanding first cars. To justify this claim, here are some of the key reasons parents should understand.
Impressive safety ratings
The IIHS (Insurance Institute for Highway Safety) of the US has highly rated Mini Coopers in the ‘good’ category over the years. The car has passed safety tests, which makes it one of the best models for younger people. Take a note, IIHS has rated the car ‘good’ for protection, considering the side-impact, front crash, rear crash, and roof strength.
NHTSA has also rated these cars impressively for comprehensive safety tests, rollover, side crash, and frontal crash. Moreover, the newer models come integrated with driving assistants. This enables collision warnings and automatic emergency braking to secure the teens further.
Despite the small car size, you should consider the robust body frame that maximizes security for the passengers and drivers. The Mini Cooper would be an excellent choice for teens to ensure mental peace for parents.
Reasonable insurance costs
With teens experiencing frequent adrenaline rushes, parents tend to worry about high insurance charges for their first cars. However, insuring a Mini Cooper wouldn’t bite your wallet as hard as other cars. A standard car would involve around $1,276 as insurance costs annually. This is around $243 less than other cars for teens. With your teenage boy or girl driving a Honda Civic, you need to fork out $1,822 annually. Insurance charges for a Toyota Corolla and Mazda 3 are around $2,245 and $1,655, respectively.
At $511 annually, the liability coverage looks much cheaper for the Mini Cooper. This way, a Mini Cooper turns out to be more affordable in terms of insurance costs.
High resale value
With experience, young drivers would love to switch to a bigger car. The high resale value of Mini Coopers ensures that these vehicles can yield an impressive value when you sell them off. In the first five years, Mini Coopers lose just 40% of their cost. Other popular cars for teens like the Honda Civic and Mazda3 undergo 43% and 44% depreciation in the same period. Only the Toyota Corolla has a better statistic, losing 39% of its value.
Therefore, betting on a Mini Cooper makes sense if you think of long-term car investments!
Easy parking
BMW has designed some Mini Cooper models ideally for the younger generations. Integrating most of their models with rear and front parking sensors has made parking easy. Besides, teens can seamlessly handle these cars due to their compact sizes. Maneuvering Mini Coopers turn out to be easy in parking spaces.
Moreover, if your teen takes the car to supermarkets regularly, easy parking would be an advantage.
Relatively affordable maintenance
High maintenance costs wouldn’t be an issue when you get a Mini Cooper for your teen. These cars need an interim inspection every 5,000 miles or six months and a full service annually. The newer models come with a warranty for three years. This implies that you can get across to an authorized dealership of the Mini Cooper for the first few services. Considering the reasonable maintenance charges, Mini Coopers are ideal for teens.
Although the car needs frequent oil changes, costing around $150 to $190, the parts are inexpensive and easy to procure. You can find them easily in local dealerships, which compensates the expense of oil changes to an extent.
Affordable teen cars
Let’s get to the point: Mini Coopers are not the cheapest first cars. While you will come across less-expensive models, the comprehensive safety features make them ideal for teens. The 2021 Cooper Hardtop 4 Door car comes at $23,400 as the base price. Assuming that you don’t opt for any kind of customization, this model won’t be too expensive, compared to other models.
Mini-Coopers are quality cars that won’t burn a hole in your pocket, considering the purpose you’re purchasing them for.
Impressive reliability rating
BMW has consistently addressed the issues with older models of the Mini Cooper. This is evident from the progressively impressive reliability rating of these cars. Back in 2014, the Mini Cooper found itself in the 28th position in terms of reliability out of 32 brands. Currently, they rank 4th, which implies a significant improvement. In general, Mini Coopers have technical glitches like radiator problems, transmission and clutch failure, and issues with power steering. These glitches are relatively common in other brands too, and won’t amount to frustration.
Currently, Mini Coopers have 78/100 as their reliability rating, while the Honda Civic, Toyota Corolla, and Mazda3 have scores of 76, 80, and 74.
Is Mini Cooper a boy car?
Whether a Mini Cooper would suit a boy or a girl is a relative question. Public opinion on online forums reveals that it is a unisex car. While the pink color suits girls more than boys, you can choose from other elegant shades like red.
Is Mini Cooper a girl car?
A mini cooper is not exclusively a girl’s car, as many men also own them. However, comments on public forums reveal that many women aged between 30 and 40 own mini coopers. Therefore, if you want to purchase a Mini Cooper for your teenage daughter, it’s fine to go with.
Why do we think Mini Cooper is a good car for a teenager?
The Mini Cooper happens to be an excellent choice for teenagers as they are customizable, safe, and compact. Teens love funky cars as they hit the road, and the Mini Cooper fulfills their aspirations.
Considering the relative affordability, these cars won’t hurt your finances. Hassle-free handling, moderate maintenance, and insurance costs, and high safety ratings make the Mini Cooper ideal for teens.
The manufacturers have also proportioned the cockpit of the car for shorter drivers. The driver’s seat is height-adjustable so that it doesn’t hinder visibility.
Are Mini Coopers safe for new drivers?
The impressive safety ratings from IIHS and NHTSA clearly demonstrate how safe these cars are for new drivers. The latest Mini Cooper models have airbags for passengers and drivers, brake assistance, daytime running lights, traction control, and electronic stability control features. They also come equipped with airbags on the front side, 4-wheel abs, automatic-leveling headlights, lane departure warning, 4-wheel disc brakes, and rear and front head airbags.
Is a Mini Cooper Too Expensive to maintain for a Teenager?
Although replacing parts from time to time won’t be an issue, the prime concern with the Mini Cooper is its premium fuel. The car delivers an average mileage of 30 MPG, which is moderate for a first car. Experts recommend SAE 0W-30 BMW Genuine Oil for these cars, and this can prove to be expensive.
However, if you properly plan to buy a car for your teen, you would factor in these expenses. Considering the low insurance costs and performance, the overall expense wouldn’t be too high.
Conclusion
You might consider the Toyota Corolla among other viable first car options for teens. However, the unattractive interiors and body of the Corolla might not appeal to teens. Besides, these cars lack an electric option. Well, teens want their rides to be fun, and this is exactly the reason Mini Coopers continue to gain popularity among young drivers. Evidently, a Mini Cooper would be a strategic buy for your teenager. Make sure to explore the latest safety features in the new models before finalizing your purchase.
